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Thread: Liao Emperor Yeh Lut Hung Gei: some thoughts

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    Moderator Ken Cheng's Avatar
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    Default Liao Emperor Yeh Lut Hung Gei: some thoughts

    Some thoughts on the Liao Emperor Yeh Lut Hung Gei, after watching his debut in DGSD '81.

    His martial arts: apart from the Deun Royal Family of Dali, national rulers in wuxia are rarely depicted as being extraordinary martial artists in their own right. I don't know how accurately or inaccurately DGSD '81 depicted him, but apparently, Yeh Lut Hung Gei was good enough a fighter to singlehandedly hold off a group of twelve assassins sent by Mo Yung F'uk to kill him until Kiu Fung came to his rescue. Later, Emperor Yeh Lut went with Kiu Fung to thwart a rogue prince who was trying to usurp his throne, and it looked like the emperor was killing as many enemy combatants as Kiu Fung was. Mo Yung F'uk wouldn't send scrubs for such an important job; his assassins were likely fairly good wulin fighters. Moreover, Emperor Yeh Lut was the only other combatant fighting the rogue prince's troops alongside Kiu Fung. Even if Kiu Fung took most of the heat, the emperor still had to protect himself.

    His character: he was a likeable emperor, and a man of great character. He was a wise, benevolent, and courageous leader, and a man who took the concept of honor seriously. Positive depictions of rulers in wuxia are almost as rare as depicting them as great martial artists, and Jin Yong placed Yeh Lut Hung Gei in that rare breed of benevolent ruler along with the Deuns of Dali, (early) LOCH Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, and Emperor K'ang Hsi of the Qing Dynasty.

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    didnt he also learn the 6 sword thing of the duan family? i think he is pretty above average
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    Senior Member MrIllusion's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ken Cheng
    His martial arts: apart from the Deun Royal Family of Dali, national rulers in wuxia are rarely depicted as being extraordinary martial artists in their own right.
    That's true. The only other Emperor I can think of that was depicted by Jin Yong to be a martial artist is Emperor Song Taizu in a few passing comments. But I bet Song Taizu can kick major butts

    Quote Originally Posted by Ken Cheng
    His character: he was a likeable emperor, and a man of great character. He was a wise, benevolent, and courageous leader, and a man who took the concept of honor seriously. Positive depictions of rulers in wuxia are almost as rare as depicting them as great martial artists, and Jin Yong placed Yeh Lut Hung Gei in that rare breed of benevolent ruler along with the Deuns of Dali, (early) LOCH Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, and Emperor K'ang Hsi of the Qing Dynasty.
    JY seems to favour the external rulers as benevolent, wise or honourable rulers, while condemning the Han rulers as corrupt, incompetent or traitorous.

    I'm not sure if Yelu Hongji is the same person, but wiki seems to have less-than-complimentary things to say about the real life persona.
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    Quote Originally Posted by LuNaR
    didnt he also learn the 6 sword thing of the duan family? i think he is pretty above average
    No, not Yeh Lut Hung Gei. Only the Deuns themselves ever learned 6 Mak Divine Swords.

    I don't know what kinds of martial arts Emperor Yeh Lut practiced.

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    Yelu Hongji wasn’t a very good ruler and traits of his megalomania surfaced in the novel too. He was just an older Khitan version of Song emperor Zhezong in the novel. In history, emperor Zhezong of the Song dynasty was waymore capable than emperor Daozhong of Liao (Yelu Hongji). Yelu Hongji was one of the main reasons why the Liao empire was weakened that much and couldn’t withstand a Jurchen uprising.

    Futhermore, Yelu Hongji in the novel was never said to have studied any advanced martial arts. He just had a good military training (archery, wielding a spear, sword, simplistic hand-to-hand combat). Murong Fu certainly didn’t send any assassins to assassinate him. I doubt Yelu Hongji could even defeat even a rather strong Wuliang Sword disciple.
    TVB’s 1982 DGSD adaptation is very inaccurate.
    Last edited by Athena; 08-01-07 at 07:52 AM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Athena
    The Yelu Hongji wasn’t a very good ruler and traits of his megalomania surfaced in the novel too. He was just an older Khitan version of Song emperor Zhezong in the novel. In history, emperor Zhezong of the Song dynasty was a much capable ruler than emperor Daozhong of Liao (Yelu Hongji). Yelu Hongji was one of the main reasons why the Liao empire was weakened that much couldn’t withstand a Jurchen uprising.

    Futhermore, Yelu Hongji in the novel was never said to have studied any advanced martial arts. He just had a good military training (archery, wielding a spear, sword, simplistic hand-to-hand combat). Murong Fu certainly didn’t send any assassins to assassinate him. I doubt he could even defeat even a rather strong Wuliang Sword disciple.
    TVB’s 1982 DGSD adaptation is very inaccurate.
    The Yeh Lut Hung Gei debut episode was probably where DGSD '81 began to depart from the novel in a significant way. Up to that point, the deviations were comparatively minor and inconsequential.

    DGSD '81 seemed to go out of its way to depict Emperor Yeh Lut as a good, honorable man. His only major flaw seemed to be his overreaching ambition, and for rulers, that's difficult to judge as a weakness.

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